May 7, 2010
When "Solving The Problem" Doesn't Solve The Problem
When "Solving The Problem" Doesn't Solve The Problem Cliff Ennico www.creators.com "I'm a computer consultant who works out of my home. I have one or two larger businesses that provide the bulk of my income, and the rest of the time I spend serving small and home-based businesses. Last week I received a call from one of my home-based business clients who had a real emergency - his computer was crashing once every hour and he couldn't access his e-mails. I was busy with one of my bigger clients that day but drove over to his house that evening. After about four hours running diagnostic tests on his computer I concluded that his hard drive was 'cooked' and that he would be better off buying a new computer rather than repairing the old one. He said he was traveling on business the next few days and wouldn't have time to shop for a computer. I told him I would be happy to put a new computer together for him, but because of pressing duties with my larger client it would probably be a week or two before I could give him a quote. We parted on friendly terms, but when I called him the following week to see if he was still interested in a new computer he told me he already had one - apparently he went to a local computer store the morning after I visited him and bought a machine 'off the shelf'. He also told me he wouldn't be paying me for the four hours I spent working on his machine. It isn't worth suing over, but I feel this client ripped me off. Did I do something wrong here?" To paraphrase an old TV game show, "it's not what you did, it's what you DIDN'T do" for this client that cost you the relationship. I have no doubt that you are an excellent computer technician, and that you correctly diagnosed the problem this client was having with his computer. The problem is that there were two separate problems here - the computer had a problem, and the client had a problem. The computer's problem was that its hard drive was "cooked". The client's problem was that he had a home-based business, he couldn't access his e-mails, and he was losing business every hour his computer wasn't operational. You solved the computer's problem all right, but you completely ignored the client's problem, and he had every right to be angry with you. Let me spell it out for you. When you work out of your home and your computer crashes, you are out of business. Kaput. Gonzo. Over and out. World without end, amen. Would I be right in guessing that this client was freaking out when you arrived at his home? Now, you started out right - you got to his home the same day he called you. But then you spent four hours taking his computer apart (no doubt while he hovered over you wringing his hands in anxiety, as I would have done), only to tell him there was nothing you could do to get him up and running within the next week. Instead of reducing the client's anxiety, you succeeded only in terrifying the Dickens out of him. Your client couldn't have cared less about the cause of the computer's problem - what he wanted was to get up and running in as short a time as possible. Here's what you should have done: you should have had a spare computer in the trunk of your car, along with a portable hard drive, for just such an emergency as this; the minute you showed up at the client's home you should have disconnected his computer, replaced it with the "spare", and connected it to his e-mail and Internet accounts; if the client hadn't properly backed up his data, you should have backed up his computer onto the portable hard drive and put as much of his data as you could back on the "spare's" hard drive; THEN, once the client was back in business, you could have given him the option of purchasing the "spare", or leasing it for a few weeks while you put a new computer together for him at your leisure. This client was absolutely right to take matters into his own hands - waiting a week for your schedule to clear would probably have destroyed his business. Frankly, he let you off easily - a less gracious client would have told you in no uncertain terms what you could do with that "cooked" hard drive! Whatever you do, don't send this guy a bill - send him some free software or other "thank you for your business" gift that will show him you really do consider people more important than machines. Cliff Ennico ( cennico@legalcareer.com is a syndicated columnist, author and host of the PBS television series 'Money Hunt'. His latest books are 'Small Business Survival Guide' (Adams Media, $12.95) and 'The eBay Seller's Tax and Legal Answer Book' (AMACOM, $19.95). This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com . COPYRIGHT 2007 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.

Posted by Staff at 1:50 AM